Zenith and Brooklands held hands through some of the most exciting years of motorcycle racing. This article takes a look at a Zenith that has been built to recreate an original racer from 1926.
Words: Rich Orriss
Photos: Graham Gasson + Rich Orriss
There are few places that loom larger in the history of British motorcycle racing than Brooklands. When the famous Surrey circuit opened its gates in 1907, it became the stage on which manufacturers and private riders could test themselves against the clock, and against each other. By the 1920s, the sight and sound of racing motorcycles circulating the concrete track had become an established part of Brooklands life.
Zenith was one of the marques that naturally ended up on the bank of Brooklands. Based in Weybridge, Surrey, and therefore with Brooklands virtually on its doorstep, Zenith developed a reputation for producing fast, competitive machines. The company’s association with Brooklands went back to the early days of the circuit, and during the 1920s Zeniths were regularly seen competing in speed events and races.
Among those competing with a Zenith at this time was F. C. Millar – a motorcycle dealer from Surrey who raced his Blackburne-powered Zenith at Brooklands between 1926 and 1928. It was quite a special bike, and in recent years, it has has been rebuilt using the 250cc Blackburne motor used in Millars Zenith. The builder – Graham Gasson.
The story of Millar and his machine is an interesting one. He had already been racing a Chater Lea Blackburne in 1925, both as a solo and with a sidecar, before he switched to a Cotton Blackburne at the beginning of 1926. And then in May 1926 the Zenith made an appearance. It was raced with a 350cc engine in both solo and sidecar form, however this motor was regularly removed and replaced with a 250cc Blackburne unit, which was used for the most part in sprint races. At Brooklands, the Zenith completed laps at an impressive speed of 83.70mph.
“Millar clearly had a good connection with the Blackburne factory, due to the support he received from them,” says Graham. “This meant he was one of the few riders that was allowed to use one of the ‘TT’ type racing engines. The 350cc engines he used were home tuned by Mr Millar, using all the usual methods of the time – polished ports, higher compression pistons, and better oiling, particularly to the big end which could overheat and fail.”
Millar was not just a racer and a tuner; he also ran a motorcycle business. He opened Millars Motors at an address in Streatham in 1925, before moving the business to Mitcham Lane, London in 1928/29. In 1933 it moved again, this time to London Road, Mitcham. Graham believes the business was still open in the late 1960s – period advertisements indicate that it was a substantial dealership, with a sizable showroom containing well over 200 motorcycles for sale. It was presumably the demands of this growing business that eventually brought Millar’s racing career to an end.
“I believe he (Millar) stopped racing at the end of 1928, I assume due to work commitments with the expanding business, but he kept the Zenith for the next 50+ years.”
The Photograph
And it was that motorcycle which eventually found its way into Graham’s family.
“My father purchased the original Zenith Blackburne in the 1980’s, and it came with some spares, which included the 250cc racing engine. It also came with some documentation, including an original photo of the Zenith at Brooklands with the 250cc engine fitted, so this became the inspiration for the replica, although it took many years for this to happen.”
The idea was always there, but other projects kept getting in the way – and so it was all put on the back-burner.
Graham already had a useful collection of parts to start thinking about the build, albeit there were some hurdles to hop over to form the basis of a rolling chassis.
“I had the original engine, petrol tank, gearbox, wheel hubs, plus some smaller items. The main things missing were the frame and forks. I advertised for a couple of years for a frame, but with no success, luckily a mate had a set of Webb forks for sale, so these were added to the pile of parts.”
Eventually, after years of waiting, the project finally got underway.
Building the Replica
The complete build took around 12 months. Graham was fortunate enough to have access to an original Zenith Model 20 frame, which provided accurate measurements for the new frame which had to be built up. The original Brooklands photograph was equally important for the build process.
“Luckily I had access to an original Zenith Model 20 frame for measurements, and with the Brooklands photo, I knew what the finished motorcycle should look like.”
There were no major setbacks during the build, although constructing the frame presented its own challenges.
“I did have to fabricate a jig to assemble the frame on, just to ensure it was straight prior to brazing all the parts together.”
And the result is remarkably close to the machine in the original photograph.
“The finished machine looks very similar to the original photo, so I think I have done a reasonably good job.”
Looking at the finished motorcycle, the proportions certainly appear right. It has the narrow, stripped-down appearance that seems so characteristic of a serious Brooklands machine of the period, and almost takes you straight back to those golden days of the circuit. And underneath that simple appearance is a rather special engine.
The Blackburne Racing Engine
The 250cc motor is a ‘works’ type racing engine, rather than a standard Blackburne unit.
“The engine is a ‘works’ type racing engine, which has a better crankshaft assembly than the standard engine. It runs in a roller bearing and a ball race, instead of a roller bearing and bronze bush. The big end has a direct oil feed instead of the ‘spash’ type of the standard engine. It is fitted with a high compression piston, a ‘kidney’ shaped camshaft, amongst other details, and I believe it was capable of running at 7000rpm. The gearbox is a racing Burman unit, with no kick start mechanism. It is fitted with the original racing Lucas magneto, and an Amac TT type carburettor.
So in order to fire the machine up, it is a run and bump affair – atypical of the race bikes of the era.
The Components
The wheels were built up to match the configuration of the racer.
“The front wheel is a brakeless 21″ part (standard fitment for Brooklands), the rear wheel is again 21″ and using an Enfield hub. In period it would have used 26″ ‘clincher’ type beaded edge rims and tyres, but suitably narrow tyres are not available nowadays. “
The Webb Girder Forks are fitted with an Andre-type steering damper. The was a device used to inhibit an undesirable, uncontrolled movement or oscillation of the handlebars. It was a phenomenon known in motorcycling as the ‘death wobble’ – an experience that any rider would want to avoid while tearing around the bank of Brooklands!
Not Quite Ready
Despite the amount of work that has gone into the project, Graham hasn’t ridden the Zenith yet; “I haven’t ridden the Zenith as yet, because there are still a few bits to sort out.”
One of those jobs came about after Graham discovered a note made by his father when the engine was rebuilt in 1988.
“I found a note on the rebuilt engine from my father dated 1988, which states that he had fitted Royal Enfield valve springs, which he thought may be too strong. So I have had some new Blackburne type springs made, and I need to fit these soon.”
Once the remaining work is finished and the engine is running correctly, there is one particular destination in mind… Brooklands.
Back to Brooklands
For Graham, much of the attraction of the Zenith is its appearance.
“I think the whole look of the Zenith, the stance, the narrow width, the minimal look, is so correct for the roaring twenties era.”
It certainly has the right look. The narrow frame, brakeless front wheel, exposed engine and racing components make it instantly identifiable as a machine built for competition rather than everyday transport. The original photograph has been sitting behind the project from the beginning, and Graham has created one heck of a machine that replicates a motorcycle from the heyday of Brooklands.
“When it is running correctly, I hope to take it back to Brooklands so I can take a photo of the Zenith on the finishing straight, in an effort to replicate the original, from 100 years earlier.”
It would be a fitting end to a project that began with a photograph that became the blueprint for a new motorcycle. Now there is only one thing left to do – get it running, take it to Brooklands and take the photograph.
If Graham manages it, the resulting picture will be more than just a nice photograph of an old motorcycle. It will be a recreation of an image taken almost a century earlier – the same marque, the same engine and the same Brooklands finishing straight behind it.
A Zenith Blackburne, back where it belongs…
an article by The Girder Club
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